Era of Wrath (Chrim Chronicles #2)

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Farren

Torches flickered against the stone walls of the castle's halls as I prowled my way through,  using the walls to lean on since the sounds of my walking cane would echo a ways through the entire castle. The smell reminded me a little of the halls beneath the Reverie; humid and stale. I opened each door slightly to peek inside, and closed it upon seeing it was empty. Sounds of pattering footsteps neared and I slipped inside the nearest room. While I focused on the sounds out in the halls, I was not aware of those inside the room I was in until it was too late.

A hand touched my shoulder and I jumped with a shriek. My heartbeat thumped in my ears as about a dozen faces stared at me. One of those wore a crown, a girl not older than ten years old with brown hair and brown eyes and a blushing round face.

My lips puckered. I couldn't help it, but I lost myself to laughter. "You are their so called queen?" Again, I laughed, but even louder this time. "All of you grown ass people are obeying this little brat here?" As I huddled over in laughter, I lost balance and fell on the floor, where I continued laughing while hitting my fist on the stone floor. The idea that all these people were out there killing one another on behalf of this little kid was so absurd that it became amusing. "Oh, did she run out of dolls to play with?"

"Help her up," her tiny little mouse-voice ordered, and at this point, as I was hauled up by one of her guards, tears streamed down my face. "Laugh all you want, we'll see who laughs last."

My stomach began to hurt. But I couldn't stop, no matter how hard I tried. All I could do was wonder; just how dimwitted was the Moreau bloodline? For a long time they allowed me to laugh, even supporting my shoulders so I wouldn't topple over again, and it must've been at least ten minutes when I finally managed to get a grip.

Wiping my eyes dry, I nodded. "Okay, I'm done." I held up a hand. "Please, carry on."

Neviana frowned and gritted her teeth. "Thank you, miss Van Velsen, but I really don't need your permission to carry on." There it was again, that stupid little mouse-voice with a crown on top, but even though my lips trembled and I let out snorts, I managed to restrain myself from laughter. "And, as disappointed you may be by the sight of me, I'll have to let you know that it's mutual." She clasped the golden, emerald embedded throne's elbow rests and rose up. Grimacing, she looked me over from top to bottom. "Look at yourself. You only have one leg, your face is more revolting than that of a burn victim, and..." She pointed at a window. "Your own people have abandoned you."

When I looked outside, I was indeed surprised to see that all of our ships were gone, as well as everyone I knew other than the fallen ones on the dirt. Taking a deep, long breath, I gave her a shrug. "So?" I took a step towards her and smiled. "Even though I am an ugly cripple, I am still superior to you. The bloodline I am from is the strongest of all, much superior to your exiled bloodline. The town I rule is superior to this little dump you call your kingdom. No matter what happens to me and where we stand, there will never come a day where your filthy kinfolk will ever manage to even get close to the superiority of mine." I tilted my head aside. "Compared to me, you..." I looked around the room. "All of you, are just a disgusting infestation of cockroaches that should've been terminated a long, long time ago."

As quickly as I could, I swung my hatchet at the girl who had led hundreds of my people to death this night. Her shriek resounded through the room. From all sides, hands grabbed me and pushed me down onto the floor. They held my entire body as well as my head, but with much struggle I managed to look up and see the sliced skin peeling off her cheek.

"There," I said. "Now you're as ugly as I am. Congratulations, Neviana, you are one step closer to my level, though you still have many light-years to go." And I laughed, a crooked, squealing laugh because the guards pushed me down so forcefully that I could barely breathe.

A chaos emerged and people rushed up and tugged at the girl in panic, and I saw Eileen Dovraven run towards her, too, whom I hadn't noticed in the room until now. "My queen, you need medical attention."

"One moment." Neviana kneeled beside me. A puddle formed as blood poured down from the wound underneath her hand. "I'm not going to kill you, Farren. No. I'm going to do much worse to you. First I am going to take your beloved Chrim away from you, and then I'm going to slaughter whatever is left of your bloodline. And I'm going to make you suffer for every single day of your miserable life. Once I am done with you, Van Velsen, you will be begging me for death."

Once they'd stopped dragging me over the cold stone halls, I found myself in a dark prison cell. But it was a nice cell compared to those we had in Chrim, there it was no more than a pitch black void where one had to sleep in their own feces. This one, however, had a bed made of hay, a small window, a toilet with a tap next to it, and even soap and little rags. The only thing I was truly angry about was that they'd taken away my hatchet.

Days passed by where the only contact I had with the outside world was the occasional grumpy guard throwing me a bowl of slop. They ignored all my attempts for a chitchat. I passed time by braiding hay and looking out the window, though there wasn't much to see except for the endless blue of the ocean.

When the cell door creaked open, I thought I was dreaming until they pulled me up and dragged me out. Once outside the prisoner's wing, they were waiting for me with a cage. A tall, oval one, looking much like a birdcage.

"Get inside," a bearded guard roared.

Shackles were secured around my wrists and ankles, and, as I sat inside my birdcage, I was rolled outside and onto a ship. Stacks of chests were piled on the deck, and people were bringing more on board.

A shadow cast over me, when I looked up Neviana stood outside the cage looking down at me with a smug smile. Covering her cheek was a large bandage that covered the entire half of her face. I wondered whether they had managed to sow the sliced flesh back, but I highly doubted it. Even if they did, she'd never be as pretty again. Should've thought twice before calling me ugly.

"You're going home," she said. "I am going to conquer Chrim, and I'm going to kill your family, and once I'm done with all your family and friends I will put their heads on a stick and present them to you." Neviana hunched closer, and whispered. "And whenever you look at their severed heads, you will be reminded that all of them died because of you."